Review: Lazy Dodo Single Estate Rum    79.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Published December 5, 2020

Lazy Dodo Single Estate Rum is produced on Mauritius, in Pamplemousses, a district located in the North West part of the island nation situated several hundred miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

I found some information on several retail websites which although I couldn’t verify seemed nevertheless reasonable. As a single estate rum, the sugar cane used to produce Lazy Dodo is grown, harvested and processed on the the Pampelmousses Estate in Mauritius. The molasses based rum is apparently a blend of sugar cane spirits aged from 5 to 12 years. According to the Lazy Dodo website, this maturation was mainly in french oak barrels, however, their cellar master also blended rum aged in America barrels, used bourbon barrels and even some some from used aged sugar syrup barrels.

Also according to the Lazy Dodo website:

LAZY DODO is the perfect combination of Mauritian flavours, both on its own (on the rock) or in cocktails.

This rum honors the mystic bird of the island, the dodo which did not survive to the arrival of the sailors in the XVIII century. The dodo was a bird which could not fly, hence easily recognized for being lazy. 

Today, the dodo is extinct; however it remains the national emblem of Mauritius. Through this humble tribute which is the LAZY DODO, we hope to raise awareness about endangered species so that they do not experience the same fate as the dodo. 

My sample was bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume:

In the Bottle 4.5/5

Lazy Dodo arrives in an attractive green canister which contains the 700 ml corked bottle. I’ll be honest and say that they got me with the name, Lazy Dodo Single Estate Rum. It could have arrived in a wine bag and I still would have been interested. Everything else is just eye candy, and I cannot wait to begin tasting.

In the Glass  8/10

Colour: copper

Legs: Slender legs that amble slowly downwards

Nose: A vague hint of something brackish, butterscotch, vanilla, tropical fruit (banana, pineapple and mango??), hints of grape and citrus zest. almond and light oak spice.

I am concerned about that brackish note that reminds me of alkali. It doesn’t seem to belong.

In the Mouth 47/100

There is a lot to like, the rum being quite smooth with a lovely sweetness that is not overdone. The oak is more apparent on the palate with its flavours of woodiness and fine spice melded nicely into that sweetness. A hint of copper flavour whether real or imagined resides inside as well with vanilla, more tropical fruit (oranges, pineapples and bananas) and light flavour of almond.

There is also unfortunately a light bitterness that runs through the rum the is very distracting. It reminds me of burnt sugar and I wonder if it is a residual effect of the rum aged in used sugar barrels. That light bitterness brings the score down quite drastically and is probably related to that brackish quality I noted when I nosed the rum.

In the Throat 12/15

There is a bit of heat in the exit which is out of place in a rum of this age. There is also quite a bitter landing which again must be related to that brackish note I have been discussing. Fortunately some butterscotch sweetness blunts the bitter blow to a degree salvaging the score somewhat.

The Afterburn 8/10

I am glad I had the opportunity to taste the rum just so I could tell persons in my tasting group that I have tasted a Lazy Dodo. There is unfortunately not much else that is positive about this experience. Lazy Dodo Single Estate Rum is not a bad rum by any means, but it is not a good rum either. All the potential is there, but whatever it is that is causing that odd bitterness to rum through the dram should be eliminated.

I’ll be honest though, I would buy another bottle just so I could have a sealed Lazy Dodo on my shelf.

If you are interested in comparing more scores, here is a link to my other published Rum Reviews.

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You may (loosely) interpret the scores as follows.

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89    Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94    Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping